The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-09-03
THE PLANT SYSTEM.
SAVANNAH, FLORIDA AND WEST
ERN RAILWAY COMPANY.

What the Railroad Has Done for South
Georgia and Florida DR.. James p.
Screven - Savannah and Albany
Railroad Subsequent Changes in
Name and Organization-Pres
John Screven-Progress of the Road
Its Sale to H. B. Plant--The Plant
System Organized-They Buy the Sa-
vannah and Charleston Road-The
Atlantic Coast Line -BXtension of the
System to Havana-Other Branches
on Foot Porto Tampa Business
Statistics Property of the Company
Cheering Prospect
Southern and Southwestern Georgia. and
large portion of the peninsula Of Florida,
are more indebted to the construction of the
| Atlantic and Gulf railroad, now known un-
der the "Plant Investment" system as the
Savannah, Florida and Western, for their
unexampled development and prosperity
than to all othe" agencies combined.
Almost within a single generation the
! greater part of that vast region was little
more than a sparsely settled wilderness,
sneeringly dubbed the "Pine Barrens" of
| Georgia, and possessing hardly any
| quotable value i'm the market. Thousands
of acres changed hands at from 10c. to Soc.
per acre.
Now, much of that identical country is
the abode of a refined and wealthy people,
and the lands are in great request for homes,
| farms and fruit culture. That these
| changes have been wrought mainly through
the instrumentality of the railroad none
will attempt to gainsay
| For the Inauguration and successful com
| pletion of this great enterprise Is the coun-
try more behoden to the late
DIR. JAMES p. SCREvEN
| than to any other single individual. His
| services cannot be overestimated, and to
| his memory, as in the instances of the
lamented Gordon and Wadley, II fitting
monument should be erected.
As it is with the enterprise of to-day,
| however, that we have chiefly to deal in
| this article, mere passing glance is all that
| can be bestowed upon the origin and records
of the original road An ADLER pen, we
/ trust, ere long, will do full justice to the
| subject in these columns.
SAVANNAH AND ALBANY RAILROAD.
1t was in 1858 that an organization was
| first effected under the above name and Col.
| James Z. Screven elected President. That
! designation was again altered the following
! year 1854 so as to read Savannah, Albany
! and Gulf Railroad Company In 1868 the
| Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company,
! which in the meantime had obtained
charter and the loan of 81 100000 from the
! State, was consolidated with the Savannah,
Albany and Gulf railroad.
Upon the death of DR.. Screven, which oc-
! Cured July 16, 1859, his eldest son, Col.
| John Screven, who had been acting for his
! father during his illness, was elected Presi-
af fhA nd GYYlf
Railroad Company. Early in the following
| year he was chosen President of the old At
| lantic and Gulf Railroad Company, and
| then in 1868, upon the union of the two or
| CARNATIONS, he was elected President of the
consolidated corporation, and remained i'll
office until 1880, when the Atlantic and
Gulf railroad passed, by purchase, under
the control of H. b. Plant, Esq.
| During the administration of Col Sore
ven early in 1860 the track was laid as far as
| Lawton Station, (near Dupont, -130 miles
from Savannah In March, 1851, it was
completed to Thomasville. Here the track
laying was arrested by the impending war.
| The grading and bridging, however, of
| both the Florida Branch and the extension
| to cambridge, was continued, and during
| the last year of the war the superstructure
of the former was laid by the Confederate
| government.
After the war the iron on the Florida
| Division of the Florida Branch was taken
| up by the Pensacola and Georgia Railroad
| Company, but the division was soon pur
chased by the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad
| Company, and the track re-laid. Many of
our readers will recall the ruinous condition
| of the road after the cessation of hostilities,
| and the great energy with which President
| Screven pursued the work of repair and rs
Mobilization. All will admit that, with the
means at command, he accomplished Won
| ders.
We pass on now to the history of the rise
and progress of the
SAVANNAH, FLORIDA AND WESTERN RAIL
| WAY COMPANY.
| The Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Com
pany, then under the management and
direction of Col John Screven and
Samuel "a. Strang, ESQ.,, receivers,
was sold Nov. 4, 1879, by fore
closure, to Henry B. Plant, ESQ.,, who, with
his associates, formed a corporation entitled
the Savannah, Florida and Western Rail
way Company, by certificate of the Secre
tary of the State of Georgia, bearing date
Nov %, 1879
The railroad and its appurtenances be-
came the property of the purchasers on
Nov 10, 1879, but the new corporation did
not take actual possession until Dec. 8 of
the following month. Subsequent to this
important business transaction, Mr.. Plant
| ana mis- associates now Known as Une RANT
Investment Company, purchased also the
SAVANNAH AND CHARLESTON RAILROAD,
| changing its name to the Charleston and
Savannah Railway Company This
| strategic movement, resulting in the acqui-
sition of the road in question, gave the Plant
Investment Company control of the line
from Richmond to Jacksonville, Fla, and
the subsequent purchase of a controlling in
| forest in the Richmond, Fredericksburg and
| Potomac railroad completes the lines OF the
| Plant system from Quantico to Jackson
| vile: and when its connections with the
| Pennsylvania railroad were perfected it be-
! came known as the Atlantic Coast Liner
| The introduction of swift and elegant
steamers ON the st. Johns river, known as
| the
PEOPLES LINE"
but owned by the company, and the build
| ing of the South Florida railroad from
Sanford TO Tampa, together with the estab-
| lishment of the Plant steamship line be-
tween that city and Havana, completed the
extension of the Plant system from QUAINT.
| co TO Havana.
The Plant system has also made every ar
rahgement recently for the construction of
branch lines connecting Tallahassee and